Query analysis for geographic-based listing service

ABSTRACT

A unique system and method facilitates analyzes searches or queries that are geographic based. In particular, a user can submit a geo-tag based search for items posted on a listing service according to the item&#39;s location or geo-tag information. The geo-tag information for each item can be approximate such as the city, state, or zip code or more specific such as the street address where the item is located. The amount of geo-tag information disclosed to any other user can depend on the type of item being offered. Geo-tag information is analyzed to facilitate determining item matches. In addition, users that post items can employ query results to analyze the quality of their items such as from the buyer&#39;s perspective.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of co-pending U.S. application Ser.No.______, filed Nov. 4, 2005 with Attorney Docket No.MS314520.01/MSFTP1170US, entitled GEO-TAGGED BASED LISTING SERVICE ANDMAPPING ENGINE. The entirety of this application is incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

Buying and selling merchandise and services via the Internet has becomemore widely accepted and more secure in recent years. Aside fromestablished merchants and commercial retailers, individuals have found amarketplace online for shopping or peddling their new or usedmerchandise as well as seeking or offering a variety of services. Manyemployers seeking employees and those seeking employment have turned tothe Internet for opportunities. Generally speaking, this marketplace canbe referred to as an online classifieds listing and many websitesspecializing in this type of commerce currently exist. Most notably,EBay and Craig's List are two of the more popular sites. However,national sites such as EBay lack the level of personalization that maybe more closely associated with some more parochial sites such asCraig's List. For example, EBay has traditionally focused on the abilityto hold auctions across the country while Craig's List has currentlyadopted a message board type of framework that has a more local feel,but limits users to search only a particular metropolitan area. Oneither site, users are left wanting more. The national site can be toolarge-scale and intimidating for new or infrequent users. On thecontrary, the more local based site may seem too restricted in terms ofthe scope and ability to attract buyers and sellers.

In addition to these concerns, many of the current sites tend to eithercharge relatively high transaction fees or have difficulties inmaintaining or increasing traffic to their sites due to otherrestrictions or limitations associated therewith. High fees make it lessdesirable for infrequent sellers to take advantage of the online serviceand frequent sellers worry about decreasing traffic to the site due tothe higher prices needed to cover the ever-increasing transaction fees.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of the systems and/or methods discussedherein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the systems and/ormethods discussed herein. It is not intended to identify key/criticalelements or to delineate the scope of such systems and/or methods. Itssole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The subject application relates to a system(s) and/or methodology thatfacilitate searching through an online classifieds database or storeaccording to an item's (geographic) location. In particular, an itemsuch as any good or service for sale, lease, donation, or otherwise canbe tagged or labeled according to its geographic reference. This can beaccomplished in part by translating the item's address location intolatitude and longitude which provides a more specific point of referencethan merely relying on or using the town name. Thus, the item's locationcan be more accurately mapped out and generalized if necessary tomaintain some privacy for the user. A user can then search for desireditems based at least in part upon their geographic references.

Due to security and user safety concerns, the type or amount ofinformation regarding an item's location can be restricted at thediscretion of the listing party (e.g., seller) depending on theshopper's identity and/or the kind of item being listed. Therefore, whendisclosing the item's location to a potential buyer or the public ingeneral, the location can be approximate and thus include limitedinformation such as the region (e.g., New England area, southwest,northwest, etc. parts of the country), time zone, city, or state.

The system and method also provide for dynamically mapping searchresults according to the geographic references of the returned items.More specifically, when one or more items are included in a user'ssearch results, these items can be mapped and viewed according to theirlocation with respect to each other and/or with respect to the user'slocation. In addition to providing a map indicating the item'sapproximate or exact location, the system and method can also givedirections to the user. The directions can include the most efficientroute between the user and one or more items or the most efficient routefor getting to all or only the selected items.

When the location of the item is important to the decision of whether topurchase, rent, or lease the item, this mapping feature can be quitepowerful and effective in providing the user with additional informationabout the item. In particular, surrounding areas, roads, highways,intersections, shopping conveniences, schools, and/or businesses in thevicinity of the item can be viewed and then indirectly used to furthernarrow down the number of items of interest to the user. For example, ashopper may be interested in knowing that a major outdoor shopping plazaand a busy intersection are located around the corner from two out ofthree vacation homes he/she is considering to rent for the summer.Assuming that these features are not desirable to the shopper, havingthis information can allow the shopper to eliminate these two homes fromthe results page. Time is also saved for the shopper since he/she didnot have to wait for the seller to respond to emails or phone messages.Thus, even though these two homes may have satisfied the shopper'scriteria such as beach location, number of bedrooms and total squarefootage, their actual location according to the map indicates that theyare too close to high-traffic roads.

Items may be updated or added to the online classifieds serviceconstantly, however, users interested in looking and buying, forexample, may not have the time to constantly perform searches to see ifany new items have been posted. According to one aspect of the systemand method, the user can set one or more preferences to receive alertsregarding preferred items, preferred sellers, and preferred geo-tags, orany combination thereof. The alerts can be sent via email or instantmessage as determined by the user.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, certainillustrative aspects of the invention are described herein in connectionwith the following description and the annexed drawings. These aspectsare indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which theprinciples of the invention may be employed and the subject invention isintended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Otheradvantages and novel features of the invention may become apparent fromthe following detailed description of the invention when considered inconjunction with the drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a location-based search system thatfacilitates searching of items for sale depending at least in part onthe items' locations in connection with an online classifiedsmarketplace.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a location-based search system thatfacilitates looking for items for sale based at least in part on theirlocation and displaying such search results in an interactive map formatto enhance user viewing and navigation of the results.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a location-based search system thatfacilitates displaying search results in a map and/or list view.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a location-based search system thatincorporates a feedback feature to provide sellers with valuableinformation regarding their item listings.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a location-based notification system thatcan be employed with the location-based search system to facilitatealerting a shopper that one or more geo-tagged items having a desirableor preferred location has recently been posted or updated.

FIG. 6 is a screenshot of an exemplary user interface for a user accountwithin an online classifieds service wherein users can shop or look foritems based at least in part on the items' geographic reference.

FIG. 7 is a screenshot of an exemplary user interface of a user profilescreen within an online classifieds service wherein users can select toreceive alerts relating to their contacts' listings.

FIG. 8 is a screenshot of an exemplary user interface for an onlineclassifieds service which depicts an exemplary grouping of listings andquick categories from which a user can select to optimize his/hershopping experience.

FIG. 9 is a screenshot of an exemplary user interface of search resultsprovided by an online classifieds service in the form of a list whereinthe results returned to the user are based at least in part upon thegeographic references of the items for sale.

FIG. 10 is a screenshot of an exemplary user interface of search resultsprovided by an online classifieds service in the form of a navigable mapwherein the results returned to the user are based at least in part uponthe geographic references of the items for sale.

FIG. 11 is a screenshot of an exemplary user interface that depicts adetailed view of a posted item which has been selected by a user from alist of search results provided by an online classifieds service whereinthe results returned to the user are based at least in part upon thegeographic references of the posted items.

FIG. 12 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary methodology thatfacilitates searching for one or more items for sale based at least inpart on the item's location on an online classifieds site.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary methodology thatfacilitates displaying search results according to the items' locationsin a map format when making use of an online classifieds site orservice.

FIG. 14 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary methodology thatfacilitates notifying a user or potential buyer when new or updateditems are posted to the online classifieds site, whereby such items areflagged for notification based at least in part on their locations (orgeo-tags).

FIG. 15 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary methodology thatfacilitates providing implicit user feedback to item owners or sellersregarding their respective items.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary environment for implementing variousaspects of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The subject systems and/or methods are now described with reference tothe drawings, wherein like reference numerals are used to refer to likeelements throughout. In the following description, for purposes ofexplanation, numerous specific details are set forth in order to providea thorough understanding of the systems and/or methods. It may beevident, however, that the subject systems and/or methods may bepracticed without these specific details. In other instances, well-knownstructures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order tofacilitate describing them.

As used herein, the terms “component” and “system” are intended to referto a computer-related entity, either hardware, a combination of hardwareand software, software, or software in execution. For example, acomponent may be, but is not limited to being, a process running on aprocessor, a processor, an object, an executable, a thread of execution,a program, and a computer. By way of illustration, both an applicationrunning on a server and the server can be a component. One or morecomponents may reside within a process and/or thread of execution and acomponent may be localized on one computer and/or distributed betweentwo or more computers.

The subject systems and/or methods can incorporate various inferenceschemes and/or techniques in connection with dynamically mapping searchresults and automatically eliminating or canceling an item included inthe search results based on any number of parameters or conditionslearned by the system and/or method. For example, the system candetermine based on the user's historical behavior that any house locatednear railroad tracks or a school can be discarded from the searchresults even though such houses may have the features desired by theuser (e.g., number of bedrooms, bathrooms, square footage, and pricerange). The “discarded” items can be distinguished from the others in avisual manner but remain included in the search results. Alternatively,they can be removed from the search results with or without informingthe user. Inference schemes can also be employed in connection withperforming searches. For example, suppose a user frequently searches forantique baby furnishings. The system and/or method can monitor and/oranalyze the baby items most often selected and/or purchased by the userand then automatically perform searches. In addition, any items in thesearch results from the user's “preferred” sellers or geo-tags can behighlighted or otherwise emphasized to quickly grab the user'sattention.

As used herein, the term “inference” refers generally to the process ofreasoning about or inferring states of the system, environment, and/oruser from a set of observations as captured via events and/or data.Inference can be employed to identify a specific context or action, orcan generate a probability distribution over states, for example. Theinference can be probabilistic—that is, the computation of a probabilitydistribution over states of interest based on a consideration of dataand events. Inference can also refer to techniques employed forcomposing higher-level events from a set of events and/or data. Suchinference results in the construction of new events or actions from aset of observed events and/or stored event data, whether or not theevents are correlated in close temporal proximity, and whether theevents and data come from one or several event and data sources.

As previously mentioned, current online classifieds services exist suchas EBay and Craig's List. In particular, EBay tends to focus onnationwide auctions wherein sellers incur ever-increasing transactionand handling fees. In most cases, these high fees are incorporated intothe price of the item or the shipping charge and then are passed ontothe buyer. Buyers, in general, seem to be aware of these hidden fees andas a result, traffic for sellers can often wane or remain static, bothof which may be displeasing especially to those sellers held captive bythe larger, national auction sites. Craig's List, on the other hand,tends to cater purely to local areas, thus the selection of goods orservices from which to choose can be more limited, and the amount oftraffic can be somewhat fixed as well. In addition, there may be lesssophistication in the format or style of such local online sites,leaving both buyers and sellers perhaps a bit frustrated overall withtheir various limitations.

As described herein, the systems and/or methods provide for an onlinemarketplace suitable for any type of user, buyer, or seller that canincorporate a plurality of existing social communications networks toincrease traffic and the user experience in general. By developing andemploying rich user interfaces and powerful search mechanisms, a localeverywhere atmosphere can be created. This online marketplace can beeffectively utilized by users wishing to buy or sell items, for example,within their neighborhoods or across the country with the same relativeease and convenience. Unlike the conventional sites, transactional andhandling fees in this marketplace may be excluded such as for basic orstandard listings, which is ideal for the less frequent seller and evenbetter for the high volume seller. Naturally, fewer fees for the sellercan translate to lower prices for the buyer. This can lead to a greaterselection or quantity of items listed and/or increased traffic.

Unlike the current online services, this online marketplace makes use ofa location-based search system 100 as shown in FIG. 1 that focuses onthe geographic reference of a listed or posted item. The system 100includes a database 110 that stores item listings as entered by theirrespective owners or sellers. The items listed for purchase, lease,exchange, or otherwise (e.g., free) can include nearly any type of good,service, employment opportunity, and/or event. At a minimum, sellers arerequired to include at least one of a city, state, or zip code toidentify the location of the listed item. The system can translate thisdata into a combination of latitude and longitude coordinates, whichserves as the item's geo-tag. It should be appreciated that the geo-tagcan include other systems of referencing points on Earth including butnot limited to Cartesian X, Y, Z coordinates and all or substantiallyall projections into 2D or 3D space, such as the Universal TransverseMercator projection. The geo-tag allows the user to search for itemsbased on their location. When search terms are entered and then receivedby a receiving component 120, a query component 130 can process thesearch terms and then retrieve any geo-tagged items from the database110 that satisfy the search terms. As a result, at least a subset ofgeo-tagged items can be returned to the user.

In practice, imagine that a water sport enthusiast living in CorpusChristi is looking for a new or used personal watercraft but wouldprefer to test it out himself before buying. He has close friends andfamily in Austin, Houston, and Galveston and therefore would be willingto look in these cities as well as his own since he would have a placeto stay for free in those cities. He can perform one or more searchesbased at least in part on his location preferences and view the resultsaccordingly. Although there may be some items that satisfy hispreferences as to model, price, age, and apparent condition in otherstates or areas in Texas, he wants to test the water craft himself andtraveling expenses to do so may be too high. Hence, limiting the itemsto be searched based on location or geographic reference can save theuser valuable time and effort.

Safety concerns and security risks on the part of the seller areimportant and should be considered at all times and ensured in order toattract new sellers and keep current or previous sellers from goingelsewhere. However, divulging the item's address or the seller's exactlocation can cause the seller to feel less anonymous and more vulnerableto any undesirable contact from strangers. To mitigate such concerns,the system 100 can determine how much location information, if any,should be disclosed to the buyer (or potential buyer). Thisdetermination can depend in large part upon the type of item. Forinstance, if the item is a car, providing the address where the car isstored or parked to any shopper can compromise the security of the car.That is, it could be stolen or otherwise damaged. Rather, the car'sprecise location may be revealed only to those shoppers who areconsidered a true potential buyer by the seller. However, when listingan upcoming garage sale, the complete address is preferable, if notnecessary, to get buyers to the sale.

In some cases, the seller's location may not be relevant to making thesale such as when the good or service is internet-based (e.g.,downloadable software). The seller's items can still be searched basedon the items' geo-tags, however, the geo-tag information may not berevealed to any other users.

Referring now to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram of alocation-based search system 200 that makes use of the geo-tagged itemsretrieved by the system. In particular, the system 200 includes amapping engine 210 that works with the query component 130. After thesearch terms are received and processed by the query component 130 andthe appropriate items are retrieved from the geo-tagged item database110, the mapping engine 210 can display the search results in a mapformat. The user can then view the search results according to thedescriptions of each item as well as their locations with respect toeach other or to the user's location or both. In addition to viewing thelocation of the items, the user may also be able to view the areas,streets, highways, neighborhoods, etc. surrounding such items. This canbe particularly important and useful to the user when the item is apiece of real property such as a house, apartment, condominium,commercial space, or undeveloped land or in general, when an areasurrounding the item may implicitly or explicitly affect the value ofthe item in the eyes of the user.

For example, a home buyer can search the classified listings based ondesired city or suburb locations and view results using the mappingengine 210. From this vantage point, the home buyer can further narrowhis/her search or eliminate certain items returned in the search resultsbased on their proximities to high-crime neighborhoods, highways, hightraffic streets, schools, job, daycare, etc. Highways and schools can bereadily identified on the map; however, high-crime areas, busy streetsand intersections, or chronically congested areas may not be as evidentto a buyer looking to move into a new city. The mapping engine 210 canbe programmed to identify such elements and display them to the buyer.For example, the buyer can use a pointing device to hover over a street,intersection, or area and be provided with census information, crimestatistics, traffic accident statistics, etc.

In addition to allowing the user to view the search results in a mapformat, the mapping engine 210 can also generate directions betweensearch results and/or between the search results and the user'slocation. For instance, if the user has retrieved a list of garage salesfor the weekend, the mapping engine 210 can recommend one or more routesthat the user can take to see all or a selected subset of garage salesretrieved by the user's search.

Though not pictured in the figure, the mapping engine can also generatesuggested routes for the user when the user wishes to buy and pick upmultiple items from multiple sellers. Suppose that an antique collectorwho just moved to Redmond from Dallas has purchased a chair located inRedmond and now wants to buy a coordinating lamp. Two different sellersoffering the same lamp (e.g., same quality and condition) for the sameprice are located in Woodinville and Maple Valley. Since the antiquecollector is unfamiliar with the western Washington area, he can requestthe mapping engine 210 or some component thereof to generate directionsand driving times to both locations—from either the buyer's location orthe location of the chair or both. Thus, the mapping engine 210 canfacilitate and enhance a user's shopping experience regardless ofwhether they looking for an item nearby or across the country. As aresult, the systems 100, 200 facilitate creating a single local and/ornationwide marketplace that provides users with a local everywheresense.

Turning to FIG. 3, there is demonstrated a block diagram of alocation-based search system 300 that facilitates a user's shoppingexperience in connection with an online classifieds service. Inparticular, the user can submit a location-based search query 310 forquery analysis 320. The query 310 can be analyzed to determine whetherany listed geo-tagged items (not shown) satisfy the conditions or termsof the query 310. Any such items that do satisfy the query 310 can bereturned to the user in the form of a text listing 330 and/or a mapdisplay 340. The user may have the option to view both display types atthe same time or toggle between them for optimal viewing of each.

Regardless of the display in view, the user can employ one or morenavigation components 350 to look at each item in more detail. Forexample, the user can use a pointer to select (click) an item formaximized viewing. Alternatively, the user can use the pointer to hoverover an item pinpointed on the map to see more information about theitem. Selected items can be eliminated or removed by the user in eitherdisplay such as to avoid confusion with any of the other items. Bothdisplays can be dynamically updated and generated based on refinedsearch queries or modifications to the most recent search query.

Search queries can be saved and the corresponding results can berecalled and displayed in text or map view according to the currentavailability of the item. In some instances, a seller may move his itemto a different location from the last time the user viewed the item. Ifthe seller changes or updates the location of the item while the user isviewing the item, then the map display can be automatically updated orrefreshed in near real-time so that the user is provided with the mostup-to-date information.

An item's geographic reference can be beneficial to both the buyer andthe seller (or item owner). The previous discussion has focused on themany benefits the buyer is afforded by being privy to the item'slocation. Successful sellers may or may not be aware that their locationhas contributed to their success since there is no question that usersare viewing and selecting their items for purchase. However, for someother sellers, reasons for their lack of success may not be evident tothem. To provide indirect user feedback to the seller, thelocation-based search system 200 as described in FIG. 2, supra, can alsoinclude a discard monitor 410. The discard monitor 410 can collectinformation regarding which items were explicitly eliminated or removedfrom the search results by the user. An AI component 420 can learn torecognize the factors for discarding items for the particular user andthen impart this knowledge onto a discard component 430. The discardcomponent 430 can then automatically suggest items for discard or markthem for discard.

Sellers can be informed of their discarded items as well as the users(e.g., by username or email address) who discarded them. Knowing theother items which were displayed with the discarded item but notdiscarded themselves may be useful as well. Any or all of thisinformation can be communicated to the relevant sellers via a feedbackcomponent 440. The affected sellers can analyze and compare their itemswith the non-discarded items in order to improve their performance. Inaddition, the sellers may contact the users to obtain more directfeedback from them as to why their items were discarded. For example,perhaps their images or description of the item are poor or inadequatecompared to the other sellers' items; perhaps the item's location isless desirable when mapped than other comparable items being offered innearby locations; or perhaps the item's location information requiresgreater specificity given the type of item being offered. Regardless ofthe reasons, sellers can benefit from learning this informationimplicitly from the users to improve or adjust their listings. Sellersmay also be given the opportunity to informally communicate with theusers to obtain more direct feedback.

Turning now to FIG. 5, there is a block diagram of a system 500 that canbe employed in conjunction with any one of the location-based searchsystems described in FIGS. 1, 2, 3, and 4, supra, to facilitate userawareness of new or updated listings having preferred geo-tags. Morespecifically, the system 500 includes an item posting component 510 thatreceives and posts new or updated items which have been geo-tagged.Geo-tagged items stored in the system's database (not shown) can bemonitored according to the items' geo-tags by a geo-tag monitor 520. Auser can designate his/her preferred geo-tags by city, state, zip code,region, etc. In addition, the user can indicate a particularly higherlevel of interest in certain kinds of items and identify those items.The geo-tag monitor 520 can check for any matches between the geo-taggeditems and the user's preferences based on location alone (e.g., Davis,Calif.) or in combination with a specific type of item (e.g., paintings)or seller. Possible matches are determined and/or confirmed by ananalysis component 530 and then communicated to a notification component540 that alerts the user to any matches. Notification can be in the formof an email or instant message, or by the presence of an icon or symbolon the user's user interface. Moreover, the location-based notificationsystem 500 can save the user much time in finding items of interestbased at least in part on the item's location.

Moving on to FIGS. 6-11, there are illustrated screenshots of exemplaryuser interfaces that can be employed to facilitate the systems andmethods described herein. It should be appreciated that while certainways of displaying information to users are shown and described withrespect to certain figures, those skilled in the relevant art willrecognize that various other alternatives can be employed. The contentshown on the screens can be stored and/or transmitted as displaydescriptions, graphical user interfaces, or by other methods ofdepicting information on a screen (whether personal computer, PDA,mobile phone, or other suitable device, for example) where the layoutand information or content to be displayed may be stored in memory,database(s), or other storage facility.

The online classifieds service described hereinabove may require itsusers to create an account in order to use the service. The screenshotrepresented in FIG. 6 is an exemplary view of a user interface 600 forthe user's account. In this view, the user can manage his/her profile,listings, email tribes, and group memberships which are part of theuser's account as well as perform searches for items and retrieve savedsearches or recently viewed items. The user may also import and/ormanage inventory, post new items, and/or retrieve historical datarelating to previous purchases or sales. Furthermore, messages fromother users of the service can be accessed and otherwise managed fromthis view. The messages may include both email as well as instantcommunications and may be in the format of text or voice.

In FIG. 7, the exemplary user interface 700 demonstrates the user'sprofile and at least one type of preference that can be set: alerts 710.The format of the alerts can be selected by the user (as shown) as wellas the criteria for receiving such alerts (not shown). For example, theuser can request alerts to be sent based at least in part upon an item'sor seller's location (geo-tag). A user from Texas may wish to supportother users living in Texas. Alternatively, a Seattle user may only beinterested in items located in the Seattle area. The types of items thatthe user is more interested in can also be specified by the user.

The user's profile requires a minimal amount of information such as anickname for the user (to protect the user's real identity from thegeneral public), an email address which serves as perhaps the only meansof contact with the user, and the user's city and state or zip code. Anoptional photo of the user can be added for display next to the user'snickname. Though not shown in the figure, other fields relating to morepersonal information about the user can be made available such as theuser's marital status, smoker or non-smoker, age range, occupation orprofession, employment status, etc. At least a portion of the userprofile information can remain hidden from general viewing through adefault setting. This is done to protect the user's more sensitiveinformation from being disclosed randomly or for no legitimate purposeto other users of the system or service.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary user interface 800 of a user's homepagewithin the online classified listing service. The precise layout of thehomepage can be customized by the user. Thus, this is but onearrangement of the various sections. From this view, the user can manageor access his user account, post a listing, conduct and save searches,retrieve previous searches and view current or recent search results.The search results can be grouped or organized by asking price,location, alphabetically, in order of popularity or user ranking, and/orby seller. A plurality of quick categories is also indicated in the userinterface. Such categories can be utilized to facilitate fastersearching, particularly when the category can be determined before anysearching is performed. An events calendar can also be included on thehomepage 800 which may or may not be linked to the user's externalcalendar (e.g., external to the classifieds service).

It should be appreciated that any of the user's listings—either postedby the user or otherwise selected by the user—can be readily mapped.Furthermore, any listings pending with the user can be mapped aswell—alone or in combination with purchased listings or any otherlistings owned by the user. Thus, the mapping functionality is a verypowerful and time-saving feature of this online classifieds service andcan be employed in a variety of ways to optimize the user's experience.

In practice, imagine that a shopper has entered the following search:radio located within 25 miles of Seattle, Wash. An exemplary set ofsearch results for this search are depicted in the user interface 900 inFIG. 9. The results can be grouped wherein each group may have its owntab according to which items are for sale, wanted by other users, areoffered for free, or are available for swap. As illustrated in FIG. 9,there are apparently 654 items that satisfy the search terms for sale,229 such items are wanted, 6 items are being offered for free, and 25items are available for swap. To view the listings of each group, theuser can select the appropriate tab.

In addition to the groups of listings, the service can providecategories related to the user's search. Each category providedindicates one or more sub-categories under which the item is listed andthe number of listings that are present therein. The category andsub-category provide the user with some context such as the type ofradio that is listed—car radio, radios at garage sales, antique andcollectible radios, battery operated radios, and even job positionsrelating to radio marketing and sales.

Each listing can include a picture of the item as well as a descriptionwritten by the seller, the seller's name or username, the price, and theapproximate location of the item in terms of the distance of the itemfrom the user's location (e.g., 0.5 miles, 2.5 miles, etc.). Searchescan be saved for later recall by the user. When recalled, the searchresults returned for that search can be retrieved as well; however, thelistings can be updated to notify the user if a listed item is no longeravailable from the seller (e.g., canceled or already sold by the selleror item moved locations and no longer satisfies the user's searchparameters). Other modifications to the listing such as price orlocation changes (not affected by search parameters) can undergo somekind of visualization, such as a color or font change or appendage of anicon or symbol, for example, that the user can readily recognize.

Since the location of the listed item can be important to a potentialbuyer, the listings can be viewed on a virtual map to visuallycomprehend where the items are located with respect to each other and/orwith respect to the buyer. A control button 910 can be selected orclicked to open or toggle to the map view. The user interface 1000displayed in FIG. 10 represents one such view of a dynamically generatedvirtual map.

The map 1010 can have a plurality of zoom levels to provide differentperspectives and various amounts of geographic detail to the buyer. Forexample, in a road view, each listing can be pinpointed and labeled suchas with a number with some level of road detail shown. The level of roaddetail can depend on the zoom level. The buyer can hover a pointer orother navigation component over the number to view a pop-up box whichincludes the listing content for the item. Aerial or hybrid views(combined road and aerial) may also be available. A list of the listeditems in abbreviated form can also be present near or adjacent to thevirtual map to provide the user with a quick reference of each item onthe map. The virtual map can also be interactive, meaning that the usercan click on just about any area to see more information about that areasuch population information, school district performance, restaurants,etc.

The user may select one or more listed items at a time to view thecontent in detail. In the user interface 1100 of FIG. 11, the user isviewing a listing for a 1999 Ford Windstar located in Colchester, Ill.Notice that the seller has only disclosed his city and stateinformation. This may be because this item is a car and thus morevulnerable to theft if its address were made available to any or everyuser. When appropriate, the seller can individually inform interestedbuyers of the car's address. Some information about the seller (Garry)can also be displayed in the listing. Additional profile information maybe revealed to a potential buyer based on the level of familiarity theseller has with the buyer and/or at the discretion of the seller.Because this online classifieds service can leverage off and/orincorporate various social communication networks supported by widelyused messaging services, the user can make use of one or more of thesemessaging services to quickly and securely communicate with the seller.

Various methodologies will now be described via a series of acts. It isto be understood and appreciated that the subject system and/ormethodology is not limited by the order of acts, as some acts may, inaccordance with the subject application, occur in different ordersand/or concurrently with other acts from that shown and describedherein. For example, those skilled in the art will understand andappreciate that a methodology could alternatively be represented as aseries of interrelated states or events, such as in a state diagram.Moreover, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement amethodology in accordance with the subject application.

Turning now to FIG. 12, there is a flow diagram of an exemplarycomputer-implemented method 1200 that facilitates enhancing a user'ssearching and shopping experience within an online classifieds service.The method 1200 involves receiving a location-based query to search forone or more items at 1210. The items may be offered for sale, rent,lease, exchange or barter, or for free and can include any good,service, or event that abides by the service's rules, regulations andterms of use. At 1220, the query can be processed across a set ofgeo-tagged items which have been posted by one or more sellers. Datarelating to these items can be stored and maintained in at least onedatabase. At 1230, at least a subset of the items can be provided asoutput and given to the requesting user (shopper), wherein the subset ofitems are selected as a function of the item's location.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is a flow diagram of an exemplary method1300 that facilitates viewing search results obtained while perusingthrough an online classifieds site. The method 1300 involves receiving alocation-based query to search for one or more items at 1310. At 1320,the query can be processed in part by analyzing stored geo-tagged items.At least a subset of items that satisfy the query can be returned to theuser at 1330. The subset of items can be provided to the user as a textand image list and/or as a virtual map at 1340 whereby the items arepinpointed or marked on the map according to their respective locations.

By viewing the relevant items on a virtual map, the user can comprehendapproximate distances between the items and/or between himself/herselfand the item. The map functionality also allows the user to obtaindriving directions as well as view the areas and other physicalstructures, roads, highways, etc. surrounding the items. For example,suppose the item is a job posting. The interested user can map the drivefrom his/her house or a child's daycare to the job's location todetermine potential commute times, travel routes, and transportationcosts (e.g., bus or train fare, gas allowance, car mileage, etc.).Similarly, the user can employ the map functionality to generate themost efficient and safest route between multiple job locations when theinterviewing process begins.

Moving on to FIG. 14, there is a flow diagram of an exemplary method1400 that facilitates notifying a user or potential buyer when new orupdated items are posted to the online classifieds site. The methodinvolves receiving user alert preferences at 1410. Along with any othercriteria, the user can indicate his/her preferred item locations such asmidtown Manhattan or La Jolla, Calif. At 1420, new or updated itemsposted to the classifieds site can be monitored. Following, the method1400 can determine whether there is a match between the geo-tag of anynew or updated item and at least the user's geo-tag preferences at 1430.When a match is found or determined, the user can be notified of therelevant items at 1440.

In FIG. 15, an exemplary method 1500 is illustrated that facilitatesproviding implicit user feedback to item owners or sellers regardingtheir respective items. The method 1500 involves displaying searchresults to the user at 1510. The results can be displayed in the form ofa list or a virtual and interactive map. At any time while interfacingwith the search results, the user may simply ignore some items, such asby not opening them for additional viewing, or may explicitly removethem from the search results list or map. Sellers who may beexperiencing difficulty in moving their items may be unaware or evenclueless as to why their items are not attracting buyers. In such cases,the items which have been ignored or explicitly discarded by the usercan be monitored at 1520 and the owners or sellers of such affecteditems can receive user feedback in this implicit manner. For example, aseller can be informed that his/her item was expressly removed from theuser's search results page. The seller can also be provided with theuser's username or email address. To learn more about the user'sopinions, the seller can contact the user. Alternatively, the user'susername and/or email address can be hidden from the seller but theseller can send a message to the user (through the classifieds service)to request additional feedback from the user.

In order to provide additional context for various aspects of thesubject application, FIG. 16 and the following discussion are intendedto provide a brief, general description of a suitable operatingenvironment 1610 in which various aspects of the subject application maybe implemented. While the system(s) and/or method(s) is described in thegeneral context of computer-executable instructions, such as programmodules, executed by one or more computers or other devices, thoseskilled in the art will recognize that the invention can also beimplemented in combination with other program modules and/or as acombination of hardware and software.

Generally, however, program modules include routines, programs, objects,components, data structures, etc. that perform particular tasks orimplement particular data types. The operating environment 1610 is onlyone example of a suitable operating environment and is not intended tosuggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of thesystem and/or method. Other well known computer systems, environments,and/or configurations that may be suitable for use with the systemand/or method include but are not limited to, personal computers,hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, programmable consumer electronics, networkPCs, minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computingenvironments that include the above systems or devices, and the like.

With reference to FIG. 16, an exemplary environment 1610 forimplementing various aspects of the system and/or method includes acomputer 1612. The computer 1612 includes a processing unit 1614, asystem memory 1616, and a system bus 1618. The system bus 1618 couplessystem components including, but not limited to, the system memory 1616to the processing unit 1614. The processing unit 1614 can be any ofvarious available processors. Dual microprocessors and othermultiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit1614.

The system bus 1618 can be any of several types of bus structure(s)including the memory bus or memory controller, a peripheral bus orexternal bus, and/or a local bus using any variety of available busarchitectures including, but not limited to, 11-bit bus, IndustrialStandard Architecture (ISA), Micro-Channel Architecture (MCA), ExtendedISA (EISA), Intelligent Drive Electronics (IDE), VESA Local Bus (VLB),Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI), Universal Serial Bus (USB),Advanced Graphics Port (AGP), Personal Computer Memory CardInternational Association bus (PCMCIA), and Small Computer SystemsInterface (SCSI).

The system memory 1616 includes volatile memory 1620 and nonvolatilememory 1622. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basicroutines to transfer information between elements within the computer1612, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory 1622. Byway of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory 1622 caninclude read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electricallyprogrammable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable ROM (EEPROM), or flashmemory. Volatile memory 1620 includes random access memory (RAM), whichacts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and notlimitation, RAM is available in many forms such as synchronous RAM(SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rateSDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), anddirect Rambus RAM (DRRAM).

Computer 1612 also includes removable/nonremovable, volatile/nonvolatilecomputer storage media. FIG. 16 illustrates, for example a disk storage1624. Disk storage 1624 includes, but is not limited to, devices like amagnetic disk drive, floppy disk drive, tape drive, Jaz drive, Zipdrive, LS-100 drive, flash memory card, or memory stick. In addition,disk storage 1624 can include storage media separately or in combinationwith other storage media including, but not limited to, an optical diskdrive such as a compact disk ROM device (CD-ROM), CD recordable drive(CD-R Drive), CD rewritable drive (CD-RW Drive) or a digital versatiledisk ROM drive (DVD-ROM). To facilitate connection of the disk storagedevices 1624 to the system bus 1618, a removable or non-removableinterface is typically used such as interface 1626.

It is to be appreciated that FIG. 16 describes software that acts as anintermediary between users and the basic computer resources described insuitable operating environment 1610. Such software includes an operatingsystem 1628. Operating system 1628, which can be stored on disk storage1624, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer system1612. System applications 1630 take advantage of the management ofresources by operating system 1628 through program modules 1632 andprogram data 1634 stored either in system memory 1616 or on disk storage1624. It is to be appreciated that the subject system and/or method canbe implemented with various operating systems or combinations ofoperating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer 1612 throughinput device(s) 1636. Input devices 1636 include, but are not limitedto, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad,keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TVtuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and thelike. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit 1614through the system bus 1618 via interface port(s) 1638. Interfaceport(s) 1638 include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, agame port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s) 1640 usesome of the same type of ports as input device(s) 1636. Thus, forexample, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer 1612 and tooutput information from computer 1612 to an output device 1640. Outputadapter 1642 is provided to illustrate that there are some outputdevices 1640 like monitors, speakers, and printers among other outputdevices 1640 that require special adapters. The output adapters 1642include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and soundcards that provide a means of connection between the output device 1640and the system bus 1618. It should be noted that other devices and/orsystems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such asremote computer(s) 1644.

Computer 1612 can operate in a networked environment using logicalconnections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1644. The remote computer(s) 1644 can be a personal computer, a server,a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance,a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typicallyincludes many or all of the elements described relative to computer1612. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device 1646 isillustrated with remote computer(s) 1644. Remote computer(s) 1644 islogically connected to computer 1612 through a network interface 1648and then physically connected via communication connection 1650. Networkinterface 1648 encompasses communication networks such as local-areanetworks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies includeFiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed DataInterface (CDDI), Ethernet/IEEE 1102.3, Token Ring/IEEE 1102.5 and thelike. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-pointlinks, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services DigitalNetworks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, andDigital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s) 1650 refers to the hardware/softwareemployed to connect the network interface 1648 to the bus 1618. Whilecommunication connection 1650 is shown for illustrative clarity insidecomputer 1612, it can also be external to computer 1612. Thehardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface 1648includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and externaltechnologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems,cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.

What has been described above includes examples of the subject systemand/or method. It is, of course, not possible to describe everyconceivable combination of components or methodologies for purposes ofdescribing the subject system and/or method, but one of ordinary skillin the art may recognize that many further combinations and permutationsof the subject system and/or method are possible. Accordingly, thesubject system and/or method are intended to embrace all suchalterations, modifications, and variations that fall within the spiritand scope of the appended claims. Furthermore, to the extent that theterm “includes” is used in either the detailed description or theclaims, such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to theterm “comprising” as “comprising” is interpreted when employed as atransitional word in a claim.

1. A system that facilitates searching for items for sale on an onlineclassifieds site comprising: an item posting component that receives andposts at least one of new or updated geo-tagged items; a monitor thatexamines the new or updated geo-tagged items for at least their geo-taginformation; an analysis component that determines whether a matchexists between at least one new or updated item and a user's geo-tagpreferences; and a notification component that alerts the user when atleast one item satisfies the user's geo-tag preferences.
 2. The systemof claim 1 further comprises a component that receives and stores userprofile information per user.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the userprofile information comprises at least one of the following: username,email address, city and state, and one or more user preferences.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, wherein the user preferences comprise at least one oflocation preferences, item preferences, and seller preferences.
 5. Thesystem of claim 1, the one or more items comprise any good, service,personal listing, event, or employment.
 6. The system of claim 1, thenotification component alerts the user in part by sending at least oneof an email or instant message to the user.
 7. The system of claim 1,the notification component appends a symbol to an item to indicate tothe user that the item has at least a preferred location to quicklyidentify such items to the user.
 8. The system of claim 1, wherein themonitor examines the new or updated geo-tagged items for at least one ofthe type of item being listed or the seller of the item.
 9. The systemof claim 8, the notification component alerts the user when at least onegeo-tag preference and at least one item preference are satisfied. 10.The system of claim 8, the notification component alerts the user whenat least one geo-tag preference and at least one seller preference aresatisfied.
 11. A system that facilitates improved efficiency whensearching for items for sale on an online classifieds site comprising: aquery component that processes a query that is related to a search foran item posted on the classifieds site across a set of geo-tagged itemsand returns at least a subset of items in response to the query as afunction of item location for a user to view; a discard monitor thatexamines user historical behavior and activity with respect to at leastone of previous searches, purchases, selected items, and expresslydiscard items for the user; and a discard component that marks one ormore items that are suitable for discard based at least in part on datacollected by the discard monitor.
 12. The system of claim 11 furthercomprises a feedback component that provides implicit user feedback bycollecting data relating to discarded items and communicating this datato one or more relevant owners of such items.
 13. The system of claim12, wherein the data comprises the discarded item and at least one ofthe following: username or email address of the user that discarded theitem and a rate at which the item was explicitly discarded by users. 14.The system of claim 11 further comprises an AI component that learns oneor more factors for discarding items for a particular user in part bycomparing characteristics of the discarded items with those of anynon-discarded items.
 15. A computer-implemented method that facilitatessearching within an online classifieds site comprising: monitoring newor updated items posted to the classifieds site; determining whether amatch is present between any new or updated item and at least the user'sgeo-tag preferences; and alerting the user when at least one match isdetermined.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein alerting the usercomprises sending a message to the user.
 17. The method of claim 15,wherein alerting the user comprises appending a symbol to the respectivegeo-tag preference to indicate to the user that an item having at leastthat location is available.
 18. The method of claim 15 further comprisesreceiving and storing user preferences.
 19. The method of claim 18,wherein the user preferences comprise geo-tag preferences, sellerpreferences, and item preferences.
 20. The method of claim 15 furthercomprises geo-tagging an item with its location information and postingit on the online classifieds site.